Effective January 22, 2017, USPS will be implementing rate changes for Mailing & Shipping services. The new rates represent approximately an overall 0.87% increase over the current prices.

While the price of First-Class Mail® Letters are going up from $0.47 to $0.49 per piece, the price of First-Class Metered Mail is actually decreasing from $0.465 to $0.46 per envelope. This is the second year in a row that Metered First-Class letter prices have seen a decrease, and represent a $0.03 (6%) saving over the retail rate. These lower costs can help small businesses reduce mailing costs significantly. Other changes include:

Price changes to First-Class Mail® Flats and Parcels.

Rate changes to various Shipping Services.

Updated pricing for services such as Media Mail®, Library Mail, Certificate of Mailing and others.

Standard Mail (commonly referred to as “Direct Mail”) will be rebranded as USPS Marketing Mail® to better align the product name with business owners’ use of the mail class.

Changes to Presorted Mail prices.

Elimination of Permit fees for various services.

FP Mailing Solutions Customers

FP customers will need to take action to update their equipment and/or software to the new rates. For instructions, go to the FP Rates Update Center.

Updates to First-Class Mail®

First-Class Mail® Letters:

The price for a one ounce letter will increase from $0.47 to $0.49, and each additional ounce will cost $0.21 more.

Weight

2016 Retail Rate

2017 Retail Rate

1 oz

$0.47

$0.49

2 oz

$0.68

$0.70

3 oz

$0.89

$0.91

3.5 oz

$1.10

$1.12

First-Class Metered Mail:

The price for a one ounce metered letter will decrease from $0.465 to $0.46, and each additional ounce will cost $0.21 more. The metered rate now represents a $0.03 (6%) discount from the retail rate.

Weight

2016 Meter Rate

2017 Meter Rate

1 oz

$0.465

$0.46

2 oz

$0.675

$0.67

3 oz

$0.885

$0.88

3.5 oz

$1.095

$1.09

First-Class Mail® Flats (Large Envelopes):

The price for a one ounce Large Envelope will increase from $0.94 to $0.98, and each additional ounce will cost $0.21 more.

Weight

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

1 oz

$0.94

$0.98

2 oz

$1.15

$1.19

3 oz

$1.36

$1.40

4 oz

$1.57

$1.61

5 oz

$1.78

$1.82

6 oz

$1.99

$2.03

7 oz

$2.20

$2.24

8 oz

$2.41

$2.45

9 oz

$2.62

$2.66

10 oz

$2.83

$2.87

11 oz

$3.04

$3.08

12 oz

$3.25

$3.29

13 oz

$3.46

$3.50

First-Class Mail® Parcels (Retail):

Customers will now pay the same price up to 4 ounces ($2.67) and will pay $0.18 more for each additional ounce up to 13 ounces.

Weight

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

1 oz

–

$2.67

2 oz

$2.45

$2.67

3 oz

$2.45

$2.67

4 oz

$2.64

$2.67

5 oz

$2.83

$2.85

6 oz

$3.02

$3.03

7 oz

$3.21

$3.21

8 oz

$3.40

$3.39

9 oz

$3.59

$3.57

10 oz

$3.78

$3.75

11 oz

$3.97

$3.93

12 oz

$4.16

$4.11

13 oz

$4.35

$4.29

Updates to Commercial Mail

Presorted First-Class Mail® Letters and postcards will see a price decrease of 0.25%, but various presort rates will be increasing. Customers looking to presort their First-Class Mail® will be able to send up to 3.5 ounces for the same price as one ounce. Presorted Flat pricing will remain the same.

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Presorted Letter (now same price up to 3.5 oz.)

$0.452

$0.453

Presorted Flat (Large Envelope)

$0.798

$0.798

Additional Service Changes

Standard Mail will be rebranded as USPS Marketing Mail® so as to better align the product name with business owners’ use of the mail class.

“Alternate Postage” will now be called “Share Mail”, and its pricing structure will be simplified.

Collect on Delivery (COD) will become a Hold for Pickup only service. Items mailed as COD will be held at the delivery post office, and the recipient will be alerted to visit their local post office to pick up and pay for the item.

Premium Forwarding Service® will see an average price increase of 3.7%.

Parcel Return Services will see an average price increase of 5.5%.

The USPS will be eliminating permit fees for mailing and receiving parcels, and also will eliminate fees for Qualified Business Reply Mail.

Extra Services

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Certified Mail®

$3.30

$3.35

Media Mail®-1 lb. Single-Piece

$2.61

$2.63

Library Mail-1 lb. Single-Piece

$2.48

$2.50

Certificate of Mailing

$1.30

$1.35

Return Receipt-Retail

$2.70

$2.75

Return Receipt-Electronic

$1.35

$1.45

Signature Confirmation™-Electronic

$2.35

$2.45

Updates to Shipping Services

The January USPS rate change impacts domestic shipping services including Priority Mail® Express®, Priority Mail®, and Parcel Select. Select International Services are affected as well. Overall, the price changes will reflect an average of 3.9% increase across all shipping services.

Priority Mail Express®

The pricing structure for Priority Mail Express® (PME) will remain constant. Commercial Base and Commercial Plus prices are being adjusted so that they are equal to each other. Overall, Priority Mail Express® prices are increasing 3.4%, with retail prices going up an average of 3.7%. Commercial prices represent an 11.2% discount over retail prices.

Priority Mail Express®-Retail

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$22.95

$23.75

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$22.95

$23.95

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$22.95

$24.45

Priority Mail Express®-Commercial Base

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$20.66

$21.18

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$20.66

$21.28

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$20.66

$21.64

Priority Mail Express®-Commercial Plus

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$20.66

$21.18

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$20.66

$21.28

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$20.66

$21.64

Priority Mail®

The pricing structure for Priority Mail® (PM) will remain constant as the prices increase. PM prices are increasing overall at 3.9%, with retail prices averaging a 3.3% increase. Below are the updated prices:

Priority Mail®-Retail

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$6.45

$6.65

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$6.45

$6.95

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$6.80

$7.20

Small Flat Rate Box

$6.80

$7.15

Medium Flat Rate Boxes

$13.45

$13.60

Large Flat Rate Boxes

$18.75

$18.85

Priority Mail®-Commercial Base

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$5.75

$5.95

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$5.75

$6.25

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$6.10

$6.50

Small Flat Rate Box

$6.10

$6.45

Medium Flat Rate Boxes

$11.95

$12.40

Large Flat Rate Boxes

$16.35

$17.05

Priority Mail®-Commercial Plus

Service

2016 Rate

2017 Rate

Flat Rate Envelopes

$5.60

$5.75

Legal Flat Rate Envelope

$5.60

$6.05

Padded Flat Rate Envelope

$5.90

$6.30

Small Flat Rate Box

$5.90

$6.25

Medium Flat Rate Boxes

$11.60

$12.05

Large Flat Rate Boxes

$15.85

$16.55

Parcel Select

Parcel Select non-lightweight prices will increase by an average of 3.5%, while Parcel Select Lightweight will increase by an average of 8%. The prices for Parcel Select Ground will increase by an average of 2.7%.

First-Class Package Service

First-Class Package Services will increase an average of 4.1%, with a flat rate for the first 4 ounces ($2.61) and ounces 5 through 8 ($2.77.)

USPS Retail Ground™

The prices for USPS Retail Ground™ increase by an average of 3.8%.

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